Beckett sat, legs crossed, at her desk in the precinct. Her chin rested on her left hand while she clicked through her e-mails. Esposito walked by, carrying a coffee.
"Got any plans this weekend?" Espo asked, lightly leaning on her desk as she closed the e-mail window and brought up some sort of catalog.
"Not especially," Beckett crossed her fingers and stretched her arms forward.
"Oh good, 'cause-"
"What are you and the guys up to?" She frowned.
"Just a little fun at a great bar Castle found..."
"Yeah, and it sounds fun, Javi, but I don't know if I can. I might have to…" Beckett trailed off.
"Aw come on, Beckett. It'll be a nice break," Ryan said, coming to a halt next to Espo. He was eyeing the screen with something akin to horror on his face. "You aren't planning to go through the unsolveds, are you? That could take all weekend… sitting there for two whole days, looking over cold cases can't be healthy."
"We needed to clean out that folder anyway," Beckett said. "Besides, a cop doing police work isn't unhealthy."
"Coffee is healthy," a smooth voice swiftly added itself to the conversation. Beckett instinctively smiled.
"Just in time Castle; we've got a bad case of The Determined Beckett," Ryan said, his distaste clear on his face.
"But coffee first," The author interjected, placing one of two mugs on Beckett's desk.
She nodded her thanks and took a sip. At that moment, Gates stepped out into the room. "My office, please, Beckett. And you too, Mr. Castle," she added. She seemed very on edge.
"Sorry guys," Beckett apologized with a smile on her face. The pair walked over to the door in unison. Over her shoulder Castle mouthed 'I've got this,' toward the guys, but quickly slackened his features under Beckett's suspicious glare. She smirked and rolled her eyes.
Gates waited for the detective to sit, and briskly walked back behind her desk in her modest office space. Gates sank heavily into her chair as Castle timidly closed the door behind himself and Beckett.
"Sir? What is it?" Beckett asked, her tone calm and careful. The chief was wired, and it took a great deal of stress to fray her nerves; they didn't call her "Iron Gates" as a pageantry title. Beckett could only pray Castle had the sense to behave for once.
"We've received word that someone here in the precinct… one of our own," Gates stressed, "may have turned on us." She let the weight of the statement hang in the air for a moment, then continued, "We have no leads on the tip, and no grounds for it other than the confidential information the tipper sent us as proof our intell was leaked."
"What intell, sir, if I may?" Beckett asked carefully.
"Of most concern, a planned abduction that we found out about from one Wilfred Morttar, a kid you sent to the DA on recommendation for parole. He told us someone that had been doing time got out, and had been scheming the kidnapping as some sort of revenge on the cop that put him in prison."
"Wait, so someone got a hold of a set of files that contain crimes that haven't happened yet? You guys just got infinitely cooler," Castle said eagerly. "Not that the Twelfth wasn't already the coolest precinct in this fair city of ours," He added, noting the storm cloud roiling in Gate's eyes. She raised one eyebrow at him, and Castle fell silent.
"The recent release under suspicion, according to our young Mr. Morttar, is Gregorovich Vidakovich. And yes, Mr. Castle, our folder of tip offs and presupposed offenses was copied and downloaded from our database, as well as a number of sensitive data that certain people needed to stay hidden. Beckett, I'm sorry to tell you this, but it was your computer that was hacked, late last night. No prints. Cameras didn't pick up anyone entering or leaving the building around that time, let alone on this floor, and the alarm wasn't triggered. The son of a bitch got away with it. I want you on this, Beckett, but keep it confidential. Bring in only who you need to, and if you're unsure of anything, address. Me. First. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir." Beckett nodded, and left the office with Castle on her heels.
When they got back to Beckett's desk, Kevin was holding her phone to his chest. "She's pretty upset," he said to Esposito behind him. He put the phone back to his ear.
"Multiple homicide-" Espo started as they approached.
"Okay, let's get down there," Beckett said, grabbing her jacket and her abandoned coffee.
"No. Multiple homicide in progress."
"What?" Castle was taken aback.
"No, stay calm, stay out of sight. We're sending our people down now," Detective Ryan was saying, "Miss, don't worry. N- wait, no! Miss! Miss?" He paused. "The line went dead. I think the phone was smashed. Whoever he is, he's armed and he's got two ho…three. Three hostages now, in an unused shop not fifteen blocks from here. We've got to go," Ryan finished in a rush.
Esposito and Beckett both double checked for their guns then ran toward the elevator with Ryan. Castle was quick after, not sure whether to be excited of terrified. As the elevator doors closed and they began their descent, he settled on the usual mixture of both.